About five years ago, I took some time off work. Around that time, I went to China for the first time, which was inspiring. Then a couple years later, I was challenged by someone to make some sort of figure with cardboard. So it all just kind of came together, and now 3 years later I’m still making them.

I don’t know if I have any big messages for people. My latest series of figures is based on the people who lived in my grandfather’s home village in China. This project is really personal and specific about my past and my culture — so it’s been really surprising and amazing to see how strangers react to it.

I love the idea of being on a site that has mostly graffiti art. I get tons of inspiration from street artists. Last year I made a huge cardboard face, which I snuck into the subway station and left it hanging. It got removed pretty quickly. In Stockholm, there’s zero tolerance for street art. But it was still interesting to throw stuff in people’s faces and see the reactions.

Well, the reason I started using cardboard is because I was too cheap to use metal or stone. I don’t have any formal art training, and I didn’t take it very seriously at first, so I used materials that happened to be lying around. But it’s actually a really great material to work with. You can’t make any shape you want, like you can with clay. Cardboard has a lot of limitations, but that’s what I like about it.